Comes the Wind
by Penalt
Summary: Rainbow Dash is perhaps the greatest flier in all of Equestria, and her fame has spread far and wide. But with that fame comes the attention of powers and beings beyond the mortal ken. One of those beings looks on the flier, and decides to take her for his own... This story was first published by myself on on Aug 17, 2017


It was a beautiful day over Ponyville and Rainbow Dash was in her element, looping and soaring. She was on a two week furlough from the Wonderbolts and as the Ponyville weather team was short staffed, they had asked if she would be willing to take back her old job as part of the weather team for a bit. She had resisted committing either way for two whole days, just relaxing and loafing around. However, Rainbow Dash is a mare of action and two days of inactivity were more than she could stand, so day three of her furlough found her back in her old job.

Quickly falling into her old routines, she reveled in the glory of flight bucking clouds into nothingness as she flew. What Rainbow Dash didn't know, was that an ethereal presence was watching her every move and action while it put the finishing touches on its plans for her. Unseen, the being soared along beside Dash, admiring the play of muscles under her fur, the angles and beats of her wings, even daring to stroke the pegasus pony's primaries while she was in flight.

Rainbow Dash didn't feel or sense any of the spirit's attentions. All she felt was the wind against her fur and feathers, which is all anypony could feel from the ethereal shade of a windigo.

"Soon, pegasus," the creature said to itself. "Soon, I shall take form and you will be mine own wind riding pet. You will ride my winds and I will no longer be alone." The creature spent another minute or two admiring Rainbow Dash's command of the air, before veering away to prepare its plans for the next day.

[hr]

"What the hay is that?" Rainbow Dash asked out loud, as she viewed the mass of cloud moving towards Ponyville. None of the other neighboring weather teams had reported any groups of clouds in the area, so they had all gone home for the day. Rainbow had stayed in the air for the simple joy of flying and she had the sky to herself.

"Well, looks like it's up to me," she declared, angling her path toward the large group of clouds. "Think I'll start with a classic blow through." Putting on a burst of speed, she did exactly that, punching through the center of the mass to break up its strong point. But for some reason, as she passed the middle of the cloud she could feel herself slowing down. It was as if the cloud was becoming thicker around her, and she could feel the fur around her neck and chest becoming damper as it began to press against her skin. At last though, she emerged through the far side of the cloud into open air.

"Oh ya! Take that cloud," Rainbow Dash declared, "No cloud can stop...what the hay?" The pegasus mare realized that she had indeed been brought to a stop some thirty feet or so outside the large cloud. Hovering in midair she looked down to see that cloud stuff had solidified around her neck and chest forming what looked like a collared yoke. Two stretched tethers of what looked like tendrils of cloud, connected the yoke to the main body and Rainbow Dash could feel resistance building against her wings, trying to pull her back into the cloud.

"Let me go, you dumb cloud!" she yelled at the thing, flipping around so that she was back winging away. The tethers on either side of her drew tight and she began to pull away, stretching them even thinner, but then two more tendrils lashed out from the cloud and wrapped around her lower legs, all the way up to and around her hips.

"No, no, no," Rainbow chanted, flipping back over to her front and flapping for all she was worth. Despite that the cloud slowly drew her in, and as she re-entered the cloud she had the sensation of a hundred cold feathers slowly stroking their way along her body as she was dragged past them. She shuddered as the sensations triggered a shivering reaction from her, but she kept pumping her wings for all she was worth.

"If I'm getting taken out by some cloud I'm making you work for it!" she shouted, straining with every wingbeat and pushing her body to its limits. The slithery sensations along her body continued until she was drawn into the very heart of the cloud.

At that point, more solid cloud stuff reached out from all around her, wrapping firmly but not painfully around her barrel, in front of her hips and behind her shoulders. White-gray cloud held her firmly in a harness around her body, her neck and her chest. She was suspended above the "floor" of the cloud and no matter how she strained, she could only move an inch or two before being drawn back to the mid-air neutral location.

"Okay, fine," Rainbow Dash panted, exhausted, as she let her wings stop beating and let them droop limply. "I made you work for it. Ya got me, what are you gonna do to me?"

In answer, another mass of cloud descended, enveloping her head and she felt soft, cold touches draw lines of icy fire along her head and muzzle. The cloud withdrew and Rainbow could see again, but she could feel something had been left in the cloud's wake. Putting a forehoof to her face, Rainbow Dash felt around and realized that she had been bridled, complete with blinders, but thankfully no bit.

"Oh come on now," she complained. "You've already got me harnessed up, a bridle isn't going to do much of anything else." Again, the response was in action rather than words, as she felt something cold flow from the bridle into her ears blocking out ambient sound.

"You...kick...hurt," a small voice whispered in her ears. "Much...cloud...hurt."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash said, surprised. "Clouds are alive?"

"Me...alive," the voice said. "catch you...hold...care...teach."

"Uh, I'm sorry," Rainbow Dash said to her captor. "You can let me go. I won't buck clouds again, I'll just push you out of the way from now on. Promise."

"No...keep...care...teach," the whispery voice said, and suddenly a hundred icy feathers were rubbing and stroking Rainbow Dash's body all over. It was a massage that left not a single muscle group unattended. Rainbow groaned, as the cold feelings massaged her wing roots, spreading their care along the bones of her wings and numbing the aches as the cold drew out the pains of overexertion. Joints and muscle that had been aching after long minutes of maximum effort from muscle, wing and feather began to ease and relax.

"Oh, Celestia," she moaned, as each of her primaries were stroked, cleaned and straightened. She could feel every inch of her fur being washed, brushed and combed, setting her skin beneath tingling.

"Keep...care," the voice said again, to her through the earplugs. The blinders closed over her eyes, reducing Rainbow's vision to shadowed gray, but it didn't matter as she felt her mind began to drift on a cloud of blissful endorphins.

"Open," the voice said, and Dash felt something softly touch the outside of her mouth. "Water." Between physical exhaustion and the massage, her mind was too numbed to consider consequences and she opened her mouth without thinking. The moment she did, something round and resilient slid in, forcing her jaws apart with a gentle firmness. Dash could taste a dampness on the surface of the intruder, but none of the promised water came into her mouth.

Disappointment got part of Dash's mind working again, enough at least to recognize that whatever was in her mouth also made for an effective gag, as it easily quashed her attempt to ask why no water was coming out of the shaft between her teeth. Something else that the pegasus was unaware of, was that from the moment she had been drawn into the center of the cloud, it had been slowly descending and moving closer and closer to the Castle of Friendship.

Twilight Sparkle had been watching the unusual cloud formation, ever since Spike had pointed it out to her. The Ponyville weather team was gone, and with Starlight off with Trixie that left only herself and Rainbow Dash with any real ability to deal with a cloud of this size. The cloud was growing closer but didn't really seem to be doing anything else untoward. That is, until part of the cloud moved aside and Twilight could see into the heart of the mass.

There, tethered in a web of cloud, gagged and bridled, was her friend, Rainbow Dash, and if it wasn't obvious enough that her friend was a captive, the part of the cloud that had moved to reveal her friend, shifted again to spell out words.

"SHE IS OURS," the words said. Twilight furrowed her brow and clenched her jaw at that.

"No she is not!" Twilight yelled back at the cloud. "Let her go right now." The cloud began to pull up and away and shaped it's answer to her.

"NO" it spelled back, beginning to pull more and more away from the castle at an increasing rate of speed.

"Suck," the voice said in Dash's ear, and obediently she pursed her lips and curled her tongue around the shaft in her mouth and sucked, which was rewarded with a small pulse of cool water. She moaned in appreciation and gave another suck. As more water flowed in she could feel something rubbing her throat, encouraging her to swallow. Something also began to rub against the outer lips of her nethers.

To Twilight Sparkle, it looked as if her friend was being forced to give oral sex to a cloud, of all things. As Twilight saw the cloud begin to possessively rub at her friend's rear and throat she exploded off of her balcony, and flew directly toward the cloud that was molesting Rainbow Dash.

"Let her go, now!" Twilight yelled, accelerating after the cloud which continued to climb and retreat. Twilight might not have been the best flyer, or the most maneuverable, but she could accelerate in a straight line with the best of them, and she rapidly closed the distance on her quarry.

She was within a dozen yards or so of the cloud when it lashed out with a wide tentacle of cloud stuff straight at Twilight. The alicorn responded by swiftly, charging her horn and blasting the onrushing mass of condensed water vapor. Which neatly distracted her from two pseudopods that struck her from above and below.

Twilight found herself unable to see as the twin masses of cloud buffeted her, their windstreams rolling her around and around until she was completely disoriented. Twilight closed her eyes, trying to abate the induced nausea as the winds continued to spin her. Gyrating helplessly, she could do nothing to prevent herself from being wrapped in the icy, cold grip of the cloud, and when the sickening motion finally stopped, she found herself lying on a cloud bank, muzzled and wrapped from neck to dock in a cocoon of cloud stuff.

She struggled briefly, undulating and flexing like a worm, but to no avail. Seeing a cage begin to form around her, Twilight tried to let loose another blast of her magic. Nothing happened though, except for a sudden orgasm that washed through her as every nerve in her body was stimulated with pleasure at once. As the aftershocks dissipated Twilight could see that the growing cage around her had become a solid thing, and that something like a hose was attached to her horn, slowly suckling on it.

[i]It's draining my magic[/i], Twilight thought. [i]Milking my power out of...oohh.[/i] Twilight moaned as another pulse of magic was pulled out of her, again firing every nerve in her body with pleasure.

The windigo gave a hiss of enjoyment as the stolen power of an alicorn flowed into it. He could feel himself becoming more and more solid, and he smiled in satisfaction that his plan had worked without a hitch. He would drain his captive alicorn of her magic to make himself permanently solid for the pegasus of his dreams. Covering the alicorn's cage in cloud, he moved to the other section of the cloud that held his true goal. Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash hadn't heard or seen any of what had happened to Twilight. With her vision dimmed and her hearing blocked, nothing of her friend's struggles had reached her. What she did know, was that each time she sucked on the shaft between her lips a cool, clean pulse of water entered her, and whatever was at her sensitive nub began to vibrate and stroke her in reward. The longer she could keep the water in her mouth the longer she would be stimulated, but before long the stroking along her throat would trigger her swallowing reflex, and the pleasure would stop as the water passed into her throat.

"Good Scirocco," the windigo said, now capable of speech, as it removed the plugs from her ears. "You are a good, lovely, wonderful creature and I am pleased to have you." Rainbow shuddered at the sound of the voice that poured into her as smoothly as the best Sweet Apple Acres cider. It caressed her ears just as sensuously as everything else had since she had been caught. She tried to mumble a question past her watering gag.

"One moment, dear Scirocco," the windigo said, with a small chuckle. "Let me get that out for you. Please, open up." Rainbow Dash did as she was asked, opening her mouth as wide as she could, and she felt the shaft in her mouth dissipate. As it faded, she again felt the buzzing vibration of pleasure and she felt another shaft nuzzle at her sensitive entrance. It did not attempt to penetrate her, although it easily could have done so. It simply sat at the entrance to her innermost core, waiting for something.

"Not...I'm not...My name isn't Scirocco," Rainbow Dash said, her brain trying to rise through clouds of mental fog.

"Among my kind, it is," the windigo said, proudly noting the lack of fear or panic in the voice of the captive pony. "Yes, you have a pony name, but among my kind, you are known as 'Scirocco.' The warm, proud wind that blows fierce and strong."

"That's...actually kinda awesome," Rainbow Dash said, and a part of her mind reminded her that she still couldn't see. "You said 'your kind,' you mean the clouds?"

"No, fair Scirocco," the windigo said, making sure his captive was fully secure. "My name is 'Squamish' and I am a windigo."

At the word "windigo," the name of the ancient enemy of ponykind, adrenaline dumped into Rainbow Dash's body and she threw herself into a sudden attempt to break free of her bonds, blindfolded or not. The flexible lines holding her and her harness in mid-air stretched, but did not break. Squamish let the harness and lines do their job, allowing his captive pegasus to fight, and buck, and struggle for as long as she had strength. The entire time, he continued to stroke Rainbow along her back and sides, reveling in the feel of the striving muscles beneath his touch, the soft hardness underneath her fur that was backed by iron determination.

"Gently, fair one," Squamish said, trying to calm the pegasus down after several minutes. "There is no need to strive so, for if it is in my power, no harm shall come to you this day."

"Wait, so you aren't gonna freeze me to death?" Rainbow Dash asked, slowing her struggles, as she again neared the end of her endurance. A moment later, she once more hung limply in the harness, panting for breath.

"No, my lovely Scirocco," Squamish assured her. "It would be a crime before all the skies above to harm a creature so wonderful as yourself."

"Then let me go," Rainbow Dash said, as once again, she began to feel the teasing, stroking feathers caress her body anew. The cool sensations once again a balm to her muscles and joints, skin and fur tingling again, as they were meticulously cleaned of the sweat of her struggle.

"Not yet, open please," Squamish said, as he guided the watering cloud back to Rainbow's mouth. "You burned away a great deal of water, Scirocco." Rainbow Dash sighed, recognizing the futility of refusal and opened her mouth to let the cloud slide in again, wedging her mouth open. Squamish rubbed her ears with loving care.

"You know what to do, my wonderful Scirocco," Squamish said, and Rainbow Dash obeyed, sucking on the cloud once again. Once more, water came in that cool pulse, while her pearl was attended to with buzzing, lapping perfection. Only this time, as the stroking on her throat made her swallow the mouthful of water, she felt the shaft at her rear move forward slightly, barely beginning to enter her.

"I will not force you, wind rider," Squamish said. "Shake your head and I will withdraw, but it is my desire to give you pleasure. Please accept this offering, my dearest Scirocco." Rainbow's mind had already begun to fall back into the fog of pleasurable sensations and she found herself nodding in acceptance.

That was all that Squamish needed to see, and he moved toward Rainbow Dash's rear, gliding his hooves along her as he did. Letting her know through his touches, that to him, she was the most desirable thing in his life. With care and gentleness he lifted her dock and positioned his magically restored member at her entrance. By this time, the power he continued to steal from Twilight had restored him to his full proud vigor, and his desire for Scirocco was evident.

"For the first time in thousands of years, I can feel, I can touch," Squamish said, as his slick member slowly eased its way into Rainbow Dash. "I have chosen you, my Scirocco, as the pony I wanted to touch first. No other has your power and majesty in the air, your joy in flight and in riding the winds." His moan joined Rainbow's as he slid his full length into his pegasus, and with a wave he dismissed the cloudy gag in her mouth.

"Oh...buck," Rainbow Dash moaned, as Squamish began to slowly slide in and out of her wet, winking passage. "Never felt like this before, what are you doing to me?"

"Placing part of myself in you," Squamish said, voice hitching as he picked up a bit of speed. "So that you can ride my winds and fly with me. Making you mine. Making me yours." Rainbow Dash rocked back and forth in her suspended harness, quivering wings fully extended. Despite her bondage she had never felt so alive, as every sensitive part of her body was caressed and stroked by Squamish's animated clouds, driving her into a lust filled frenzy. As Squamish would thrust forward Rainbow Dash would backwing, pushing herself even harder against his maleness, driving him deeper into her now molten core.

"C'mon, big guy," Rainbow Dash said, lust filling her voice. "Is that the best you've got? I thought windigos were supposed to be tough." With a joyful roar, Squamish grabbed hold of Rainbow Dash's hips, and began to slam into her with all the power and speed of his breed. The powerful slap of flesh on flesh filled the immediate area, and the smell of sex became ever present. Both equines began to rise toward their peaks, spirits merging even as their bodies became one.

"Are you ready, my Scirocco?" Squamish grunted out. "Are you ready to be mine? Are you ready for me to be yours? To ride my winds, now and forever?"

"Yes, oh sweet Celestia, YES!" Rainbow cried out. "I wanna fly forever!" As she declared herself for her lover, he reached his peak, and with a final grunting shout of effort Squamish hilted himself in his blue furred love, and exploded his essence into her. In that primal moment, Rainbow Dash also reached her exultation, and her mind went white as she came around him. Her power merging with his own. They were no longer pegasus and windigo, no longer male and female, they were one spirit, one heart, one need to fly and soar.

Squamish, eons old entity of cold malevolence, could no longer be said to be cold-hearted. As awareness returned to him he knew, that from this point forward, his heart would beat only for his beloved Scirocco. She had marked him as surely and as deeply as he had her, with a new line of ice blue feathers appearing along her wings, slotted in amongst her primaries.

Rainbow Dash, for her part, was barely conscious at all, moaning slightly as small aftershocks of pleasure continued to roll through her frame. Seeing that his pegasus was barely capable of thought, let alone action, Squamish lowered her to the cloud floor and curled himself around her with all the care he could muster. Spooning with her and drawing a blanket of warm cloud over the two of them, the now mated pair of flyers drifted off into sleep.

Some time later, Squamish awoke finding his Scirocco still asleep. He slowly pulled away from her side, and slid the warm cloud blanket in where he had been. She stirred slightly as he left but otherwise didn't react as he went to go check on his other captive. Looking into the cage, he saw that the alicorn was awake but had given up struggling and lay quietly. About once every minute or two the siphon attached to her horn would suck more magic from her and the alicorn would shudder as a fresh orgasm would be triggered by the outflow of magic pulled from her core.

Squamish checked her physical condition. She seemed to be handling the drain on her magic well, but did not move as he removed the cocoon from her. Whether she fought or not, it no longer mattered, the cage would hold her. He had a body now, and he had his love...love. Squamish pondered the word for some moments. Love. Did he love Scirocco? When he had originally conceived of this plan it had been to attain a physical body again and to possess the most magnificent flier he had seen in his long, long life.

She matched his glory in flight, his desire to soar and to ride the wind of the skies. She was nearly his equal in the air, despite her being flesh and he, a spirit. To be one with her in all things; just the thought of it had him smiling, as a warmth he had never known before filled his breast. Unbidden, the image of her gliding on the winds as the two of them rode the currents of the world, came to his mind, and he realized that she was not and could never be his possession. He wanted her still, but as an equal partner in the air, a companion that wanted to be at his side. Not as a pet on a leash.

"Rest, alicorn," he murmured to Twilight. "Your time here may be over sooner than either of us thought." With that, he made sure her muzzle was still in place and covered the cage again, before returning to where he had left his pegasus.

He found her stirring and ineffectually pawing at her bridle and the blinders covering her eyes. He paused for a few breaths to watch her anew, savoring the sight of her movements, then spoke, "Hello, Scirocco. Did you rest well?"

"Ya, clouds are pretty nice to sleep on," Rainbow Dash said, facing toward where his voice came from. "Are you going to let me go?" The hurt in her voice cut into him like a blast of magic.

"Probably," Squamish said, as he moved up beside her. "Would you be willing to fly with me?"

"Sure," she said, without hesitation, "but you're going to have to let me see to fly, and something is telling me that isn't all you want."

"I must make a confession to you, Scirocco," Squamish began, sitting beside Rainbow Dash. "When I originally created my plan, I had two goals: To gain a physical form, and to capture and possess the one flier I have ever seen, who is a match for my own power of flight. I have my first goal. I have a body now with which to feel and touch the world. But I find I no longer desire my second goal."

"Meaning?" Rainbow Dash asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Meaning, my Scirocco," Squamish said, removing the blinders from her bridle and watching the pegasus blink as she took in her fluffy surroundings, "that I no longer want you as a pet, or as some creature that I command. I want you as my equal, my partner...my mate."

"Woah," Rainbow Dash said, eyes widening as for the first time, she looked at the long equine face of her captor. "I know I'm awesome and all, and ya, you make me feel good. I mean, really really good. But I don't have much of a choice about anything if I'm your prisoner." Squamish nodded and sighed.

"You are right, Scirocco," he said. "I cannot offer you a free choice if you are my captive. So I will make you an offer. Fly with me, wherever the winds may take us, for a single flight only. If you wish to leave me when the flight is done, then you may leave and I shall neither bar your path nor bother you again. But if you do choose to stay with me, then I shall show you glories of flight undreamed of, and as a bride gift, I will ensure that Equestria is never bothered by my kind ever again."

"Fair enough, Squamish," Rainbow Dash said, fluffing out her wings. "But one flight only, and you better take some of this gear off of me." Squamish laughed, and bounced up. With a wave of his hoof the harness, collar and yoke all reverted back to simple clouds and floated away.

"Um, hello," Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the bridle around her head. "Forgot something here."

"No, I did not," Squamish said, pulling Rainbow Dash to her hooves. "The bridle stays for now, as safety gear if it is needed. Whether you choose to stay with me or not, I will remove it after our flight."

"Okay," Rainbow Dash said, and then she launched herself up and into the air. "Try to keep up, slowpoke!" Squamish grinned and once more felt that warm feeling flow through him again as he rose after his Scirocco.

Rainbow Dash flew up and away from the clouds where she had been held, flying fast and free. She expected Squamish to catch up to her in moments, but he didn't, and it gave her the chance to study the ground, so very far below. As near as she could tell they were somewhere south of the Crystal Empire, but not by much, judging from the bits of snow she could see in places. She was looking for other landmarks when she heard a roar of massive winds rushing up behind her. Tilting her wings just so, she caught the onrush of air and used it to push her forward faster and harder. A proud, joyous laugh came from beneath her.

"Yes! Yes, my lovely Scirocco," Squamish said from just below her, his joy in her ability clear in his voice. "I knew that only you would have the skill to fly with a wind spirit. Soar on my gusts, wind rider. Fly with me." With that, the pair began to demonstrate true mastery of air and sky. More than aerobatics, more than a dance of wind and feather, the two hurled themselves across the sky in maneuvers that grew more and more complex and intricate, each trying to outdo the other. Finally however, Rainbow Dash's competitive side got the best of her and she reached for the one thing she was sure Squamish couldn't match.

"Bet you can't top this!" she shouted, and contrails forming off her wings, dove to create a Sonic Rainboom. As she dove, Squamish used another portion of the magic stolen from Twilight to become like the wind and flow into and around Rainbow Dash's body. filling her and stretching her nethers yet again, even as he pushed her forward all the faster. The sudden stimulation combined with the rush of the approaching Rainboom threw Rainbow Dash into a massive climax. The climax merged with the glory of the Sonic Rainboom and combined with the magic of the air spirit within her and a moment later both beings knew nothing but infinite bliss and pleasure as their powers, bodies and spirits merged in the ecstasy of flight.

For minutes the Sonic Rainboom continued, its multicoloured contrail streaming out behind the duo as they flew on, and together they pulled into a zoom climb that did not stop until they flew to the very top of the atmosphere. Hovering, more on magic than anything else, the merged pair separated, only to engage in a passionate kiss.

"Come away with me, Scirocco," Squamish said, breaking the kiss after a minute. "My home is north of the Crystal Empire. Come with me, be my mate, I will share my lifespan with you and this glory can be yours for all time. I want no other to share my life with."

"Ye...wait, what's that?" Rainbow Dash asked, pointing to a purple speck back where their flight had started.

"It is the alicorn who lives near you," Squamish said. "After I snared you, I goaded her into attacking and drained her magic so that I could have a physical body. I am going to release her in awhile. She should be tired, but fine."

"Squamish, I think I might actually want to go with you," Rainbow Dash said, determination on her face. "But Twilight doesn't look so good. I've gotta make sure my friend is okay before anything else."

"Your happiness is important to me, Scirocco," Squamish said, with an understanding nod. "More than I thought the happiness of another could ever be to me. But it is, so yes, let us go make sure your friend is well and I will release her now, with my apologies." Together, the pair dove back to where their flight of glory had started, their combined command of the air bringing them back within minutes.

Squamish landed alongside Rainbow Dash on the cloud bank and immediately dismissed both cover and cage, revealing a motionless Twilight. Rainbow Dash shook Twilight who didn't react at all. Squamish dismissed both the siphon and muzzle, freeing Twilight of the last of her bonds.

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash said again, shaking her friend's shoulder, "Twilight, wake up. Squamish, what's wrong? She's barely breathing." The windigo bent to examine Twilight and as he did his face changed from confident to disbelieving shock.

"This...this should not have happened. This is impossible," he said, shaking his head, sadly "I am sorry, Scirocco. But I have made a terrible mistake."

"What. Have you done. To my friend?" Rainbow Dash demanded, grabbing the shame faced windigo.

"The siphon was only supposed to drain her magic," Squamish said, the pain he felt from Scirocco like a dagger in his heart. "But once it did that, it kept going and has been draining her life force itself. She is very near death. Quickly, you must go fetch your Princess, and bring her here." Rainbow Dash was awash with emotions. Fear for her friend, anger at Squamish, affection for him and pride that he now cared for others. The emotions paralyzed her for a long moment, and a new voice suddenly filled the indecisive silence.

"No need, I am here," Celestia, Sol Invictus said, as she appeared in a flare of golden light, horn alight with power and leveled at Squamish. "Are you responsible for this?"

"It shames me to admit, that yes, I am to blame for this," Squamish said, then hastily added as Celestia charged a spell. "Save her first, punish me later. I will not attempt escape."

"You won't?" Celestia asked, magically examining Twilight. "Why not?"

"Scirocco here has taken some of my power into her," he said. "In return, she has put her heart into me. Please, do what you can for her friend, quickly."

"There is nothing I can do," Celestia said, looking up and Rainbow Dash's face broke into tears. "Her life force and spirit have been drained away. Even if I took back the magic you stole from her, it wouldn't be enough. Twilight Sparkle has minutes to live, perhaps an hour at most."

"You've got to do something, Princess," Rainbow Dash begged. "Use my life, take it and—"

"No," Squamish said, interrupting. "Take my life force, Celestia. I am the one responsible for this, so it is meet that my life is used to save hers."

"No!" Rainbow Dash said, whirling to face the windigo. "You're just learning how to be a good guy now. You care about how ponies feel now, you can't just throw that away."

"It will be okay, Scirocco," Squamish said, bending down to nuzzle Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "You have taught me joy and happiness and even love, I think. I have had a long life. What better way to end it than by atoning for a mistake and saving a life."

"Are you sure you wish to do this, Squamish?" Celestia asked, somewhat amazed that an ancient spirit of disharmony was offering to sacrifice itself for her former student. "What I am going to have to do will drain all of your magic and spirit from you. I am not sure that Twilight would want another to die for her."

"Let it be done, and done swiftly, Princess," Squamish said, moving to stand by Twilight. "Just, let my last vision be that of the pony I have come...to love." Rainbow Dash threw herself around Squamish's neck.

"I'll never forget you," she said, crying into the side of his neck, "And I'm never taking this bridle off either."

"As you wish, my Scirocco," he said, and then pushing her safely back, he held her eyes with his own as he spoke one last time, "Do it Celestia, do it now, before I lose my—" The wide solarbeam took Squamish in the side and Rainbow Dash did her best to stare through the solar fury. To catch one final glimpse of the spirit who had flown with her above and beyond all others, but the power of the Sun was too much and she had to look away.

Squamish did not scream, or cry out. He simply disappeared into the blinding light and swirling cloud of Celestia's strike, and golden motes of power flew from the resulting turbulent cloud mass into Twilight Sparkle as a torrent of energy. As the torrent slowed and then stopped, Twilight Sparkle began to moan and stir. The only other sound was the soft weeping of a cyan pegasus.

"Why are you crying, Rainbow Dash?" Celestia asked, as she made sure Twilight was indeed recovering. "Our friend is saved, and one of the deadliest threats ever to ponykind has been defeated forever."

"But it isn't fair," Rainbow Dash said, tears still flowing. "He was just learning how to be good. He actually cared about me. He felt bad that he had done something wrong, and now he'll never learn if...if he really did love me."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Celestia said, an odd smile coming to her face. "Perhaps you should take a closer look where Squamish stood before you say 'never.'"

"Huh? What?" she asked, but Celestia just nudged her toward the pile of fragmented clouds that covered the spot where Squamish had been. Rainbow Dash kicked apart the pile, glad that Twilight was going to be okay, but heartbroken at the death of Squamish. She kicked away the last cloud, to reveal the sleeping form of an ice blue pegasus stallion with a deep indigo mane and tail.

"What? Who? How?" Rainbow Dash sputtered. "I'm not complaining, Princess. Not a bit, but you said you had to take everything out of him."

"And so I did, Rainbow Dash," Celestia said. "I took all the magic he stole, all of his own power and life force to replace what he took from Twilight, but there is one thing I couldn't take from him. Something that refused to leave."

"What was that, Princess?" Rainbow Dash asked, as the stallion opened his eyes and raised his head to look around.

"The magic of love and of friendship, that you gave him, and that he nurtured in his heart," Celestia said, smiling even more as Twilight blinked open her own eyes, but wisely remained lying still. "Squamish the Windigo is no more. In his place, there is now Indigo Wind, the pegasus stallion."

"Hi, Indigo Wind," Rainbow Dash said, hugging the recumbent stallion. "It's good to meet you."

"It is good to meet you too...Scirocco," Indigo Wind said, his smile matching that of Rainbow Dash as they both thought of flights to come.


End file.
